age 38 and 40. MFJ with 2 kids 8 and 5. We have 6+month EF cash. Actually right now very cash heavy. We are about to spend down the cash and have about $50-75k to invest more in taxable accounts. Our portfolio is low 7 figures. Both our kids have college funds(coverdell esa) invested 100% in VTI about $30k and $20k respectively.

I'm trying to simplify my investments. I understand the 3 fund, but I think I'm active enough to want something a little more diversified. Right now we aren't into becoming landlords. This mess started when I had my first child and allowed my DH free rein to play with our money. I used to be only into etfs/index funds until 2010. Then he tried to make money from investing in individual stocks and 2 years ago he gave up. I finally have time to streamline our finances more. I've been a bit complacent I admit.

Suggestions on streamlining to maybe 10 etfs/stocks. I'm happy to watch and rebalance. However right now I'm leaning to leaving the individual stocks alone because they amount to 11% of our portfolio and just moving other stuff. I'm also wanting to leave our taxable account alone for now because I have to be care with tax harvesting. I need less overlap and less things to balance and watch. It's a mess because of my DH.

No we aren't ER anytime soon. DH plans to work 15 more years until the youngest is done with college. FWIW, i just see us more as FI than ER. We've always been more FI then ER and we like it well enough. When he decides to say FU he does. So no plans to RE right now.

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Ten individual stocks isn't enough to be well diversified. Some guidelines I'd use: Minimum 25 stocks. No more than 5% in any one. No more than 15% in any sector.

I prefer etfs or the mutual funds you have over individual stocks. Since they're diversified it's easier to have fewer.

With etfs/mutual funds watch the cost...Cost will eat you up over 30 years. You have some overlap and high correlation in the ones you have. Put them in major groups (large/mid/small, growth/value, sector, overseas, ballast (bonds, and alternatives) and just go with the lowest cost in that group.

Have some foreign exposure. And above all, don't panic when your statement is cut in half. You'll have a long time to recover and it always does for those who wait.

Individual stocks are fine but you have to enjoy spending more time nurturing your selections and have a temperament for it.

Ignoring taxable for a moment, move all tax deferred / Roth into suggested ETFs / Mutual Funds mirroring them keeping ratio the same in all accounts. Given your age I'd skip any cash there. Simple (along the KISS concept) I chose options that you had listed in each account.

IMHO this really is a 2 brain approach. Along the lines of a core and trade philosophy. Your retirement account is your core account. That needs to be rock-solid in index funds. A boring retirement account is not necessarily a bad thing. Your taxable account can incorporate your trading account. More along the lines of exploring different stock options out there and actively using a trailing stop-loss. I use the trailing stop loss factor of 10%. That said, I'm willing to lose 10% in any one of my investments. As the stock goes up 10 to 15 to 20% my trailing stop follows it. Read up on trailing stop losses. I know a lot of investment houses don't like them but I personally do. It has served me very well. It enables me to capture more and more profit as I continually limit my downside. As I have stated earlier I am 95% core 5% explore. 92% stock and index ETF, with 8% bonds / cash / options. Lets me play a little bit. Without actually risking much of anything.

How do I do it across the taxable, IRAs, and 401k? I'm trying also to not sell anything right now in our taxable account because I don't want the tax repercussions right now.

So keep your taxable as-is for now and get as close as you can to your goal by changes to tax-deferred and tax-free. Then stop any div reinv on the taxable and go the rest of the way with new money and address the existing tickers in taxable as opportunities allow.

Ignoring taxable for a moment, move all tax deferred / Roth into suggested ETFs / Mutual Funds mirroring them keeping ratio the same in all accounts. Given your age I'd skip any cash there. Simple (along the KISS concept) I chose options that you had listed in each account.

I do not mirror in every account because it is too complicated. I try to have one fund per account except the largest tax-deferred account where I can do all necessary rebalancing without tax consequences.

Trailing stops are a way to lose money. If you think you will sell low, then just have alerts sent to your smart phone if things drop. At least then it won't be automatic and you can make your own decision.

In your taxable account, VTI and VEA are quite tax efficient. With VEA you will also get the foreign tax credit for taxes paid. Both will have some non-qualified dividends which are taxed higher than qualified dividends, so if that is a concern then you might want to do something else. VBR is less tax-efficient than either VTI or VEA.

To streamline: Sell all stocks in tax-advantaged. Use only the following ETFs or funds:
VTI, VBR (or IJS), VSS (small-cap foreign), and a total international like VTSNX. Plus a bond fund VBTIX.

LAL Roth IRA could be 100% VTI and nothing else. DH Roth could be VTI, VBR/IJS, VSS and nothing else.

You can check asset allocation for total portfolio with morningstar.com instant X-ray or tools at your broker.

If I want 90% SPY / 10% PWZ then I just set each account as 90% SPY / 10% PWZ. Faster than trying to figure out otherwise. KISS core accounts

My last trade:

Bought CANN @ 8.05
Would your stop would be at 7.24 (hard 10%)
My trailing stop put me out at 10.08 (trailing 10%)
Not bad for a few days FWIW: it's now 6.90 but I made $$

With respect this is worse than misleading. Anyone can cherry-pick a lucky trade and crow about it.

Show us a five or ten year history IRR for your strategy versus an appropriate benchmark like the Russell 3000. Few stock pickers, including professionals, look good when objectively measured over a statistically significant period.

The issue here is that inexperienced investors might see this kind of cherry picking and draw erroneous conclusions from it. Another risk is that someone who has gotten lucky will, from that, conclude that he/she is a genius. This is a recipe for losing lots of money.

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